Lapband to RNY

Anyone have this? I never thought I'd be saying this, but I just can't handle how screwed up my journey has been. I was banded in Sept 06, by late sept 07 my band slipped. I then had surgery oct 07 to replace it. I had been getting small fills but it wasnt working, then Dr thought I had a leak, which was true so I had another revision March 08. Now (May 08) Dr couldn't access my port and it has flipped (which means yets another surgery) I just don't want to wait around another 2 years for this thing to work. We are moving to the UK in Sept, there you cannot get WLS unless you pay for it yourself (which we do not have the money). So if I did go in for surgery to flip the port it would take at least a month to get in for surgery (late june) then waiting a month for my first fill (late july) I would never reach my sweet spot (restriction spot) by the time we leave. And although 80-100 dollars for a fill doesnt seem like much it will be a huge issue for us. So I am thinking of asking my Doc to just do RNY. I wouldnt have to go back for anything but a checkup (provided there are no problems) and I could go to the UK without worrying about paying for fills or my band slipping or my port flipping. My concerns are: A. Will my insurance cover this? I have really good Blue cross blue sheild. They okayed me innitially right away. B. We plan on having children someday and I am terrified of gaining the weight back, which is part of the reason why i chose Lapband to begin with because it can be filled and unfilled. C. My friend had RNY and is practically bald now, her  whole ponytail circumfrance could fit inside a dime. I already have thin hair (heriditary hair thinning) and my husband clearly told me he would hate for my hair to look like hers. Please let me know your thoughts

Poor thing! You're a walking catalogue of band problems!  Mine would only work within a 0.2ml tolerance, so after two and a half years I gave up on it and looked into something else. I chose DS over RNY (for lots of reasons, shan't bore you) and 5 weeks after the op I've already lost more than I did with the band, and much easier too. You might want to find another surgeon though - not suggesting anything but a fresh pair of eyes might be good! I was told to not get pregnant for at least a year after the op, because I'll lose weight so fast it would be a strain to grow a baby at the same time. Very few DSers regain the weight, and the stats show we lose the most too, but check out the DS and RNY boards and see what they say.  There are various things you can take to avoid hairloss - it isn't inevitable.  Hope you find a solution. PM me if you want any more info - revisions can be done! Sal

Just reading your post gave me flashbacks! I revised my Band (2001) to RNY 6 months ago, after suffering two slips, a pouch dilatation, abdominal hernia and 80% weight regain. (BTW, the second slip and the weight gain happened post-partum.) As my surgeon says, "The Band is a hard life." Damn, skippy! I was nervous at first, but I'm very happy with my RNY. Not sure how much you have to lose, but because my weight is coming off slowly, I don't have hairloss, loose skin, etc. As long as you're religious about your protein intake, vitamins and get regular bloodwork to check for deficiencies, there's not too much maintenance. And given your history, a revision SHOULD be covered by insurance. HTH

I really feel for you.  All the complications you have had?  I haven't had those, I have had all the others.  Esophageal spasms, esophageal motility issues, stoma spasms, band induced reflux that no drug will resolve to the point that my voice has changed.  I sound like a cross between a frog and a boy in puberty.  Then there is port pain and issues due to my port rubbing against buttons/zippers. I can no longer tell people banding is the way to go. Have you considered a VSG?  That's what I'm doing in a couple of weeks.